


A Little Too Late Too Early

by sparroepitome



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Crack, Gen, Inappropriate Humor, just eight kids fooling around, like a lot of them you have been warned, procrastinating gone wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-04-28 14:31:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14451282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparroepitome/pseuds/sparroepitome
Summary: Nathan freaks when he realizes he's got an unfinished group project, which is unfortunately due by tomorrow. What makes things worse, his friends aren't helping his situation when no one has any idea what they're doing.Dear Lord, he just wants to graduate.





	1. Before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I have no idea what to describe this. The characters in this fic are all self-based! Nathan is me, and the others belong to my friends, who I dedicate this fic too. So, apologies if the personalities are all a bit hectic, because well...That's how we are. 
> 
> Originally, I wanted to post this as a one-shot, but I haven't finished the rest and I felt like I've delayed this for too long, so I decided to split it into two parts! 
> 
> This is like, a whole big mess of an idea I suddenly had? Nevertheless, I hope everyone likes it!
> 
> Enjoy!

Nathan felt like he was just punched in the gut when he suddenly remembered about his anatomy group project.

He applauded himself for his self-restraint. He managed not to shoot up and scream “OH SHIT” by digging his fingers into his desk, his body jerking forward slightly in his seat, nothing eye-catching. At least no one would know he was having a meltdown.

That doesn’t help ease his anxiety though, his eyes darting towards the door. He was barely listening to Mr. Flinton’s lecture about famous literary works in the middle ages anymore, tuned out by his rush of thoughts. He wasn’t actually paying attention in the first place, despite his undying love for literature. He was too busy daydreaming about his date with Jansen this weekend. Any pleasant ‘what-ifs’ were immediately replaced by alarm bells, his mind unhelpfully supplying him with dire consequences.

Seeing as this is his last anatomy project, it has a big impact on his grades, and very vital for graduation. He wasn’t going to let his efforts of cutting down on games and date nights flop just because of one measly project. He’s going to fight for this, _dammit_.

What made things worse is that he doesn’t remember ever discussing about it with the group. It’s like they promised to talk about it and completely forgot it even existed in the span of a day. He couldn’t focus on taking notes at all, his mind too preoccupied with the fact that he was completely in the dark about the project. He’s even starting to _sweat_. If only he could text his friends and just _ask_ about how it’s going, it would put him at temporary ease. Too bad he’s still in class.

 _…Unless_.

The brunette bit his lip, creamy hazel orbs fixed on his teacher’s back, the man busy scribbling key points of the material on the blackboard in his trademark, chicken-scratch writing. He _could_ text for a few seconds, an SOS signal for an emergency hangout. Quickly type whatever it is he needed to ask and shove his phone back in his trousers.

The thing is, Mr. Flinton has a keen eyesight and has reprimanded a lot of his friends for the whole school year. Besides, detention with the English Lit teacher wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Sure, he was a nice guy, very laidback and flexible with deadlines, good looking as well. He was like the dream teacher everyone wanted, minus the part where he always makes dirty jokes every time he sees something the slightest bit off. But in detention, he tends to ramble on about a seemingly never-ending noir fiction story, placing himself as the right hand man of Mr. Corielli, who is somehow the mafia boss. It’s like Mr. Flinton was experiencing the tale firsthand.

But that was impossible, there’s no way Greenville would have a mob in it. And Mr. Corielli couldn’t possibly be the boss. He teaches _Culinary_ , for fuck's sake.  

Anyways, back to his current predicament.

He decides to take the risk and prepare himself for another earful of how Mr. Flinton gunned down dozens of men in a mansion, taking out his phone and slipping it into his desk quickly, wiping off the cold sweat forming on his hands. He texts his friends, occasionally glancing up to make sure Mr. Flinton hasn’t turned around yet.

**(Chat: Moss Bois)**

**Nathan:** guys, how’s the anatomy project going?

He starts doubting that this was a good idea when his message went unread for fifteen seconds, until everyone (minus Francis, the goody two-shoes) sees it almost simultaneously. Were they as worried as him? Or is everyone skipping without telling him?

 **Niel:** lol what project

 _Fuck_ , this does not bode well.

 **Nathan:** the group project!! ya’ know, the one where we get to choose what we want to present

 **Niel:** nope still no clue

 **Nathan:** you’re joking

 **Kyle:** naw i’m with niel idk what youre talking about

 **Jansen:** Oh crap I forgot about that

 **Rev:** jansen youre the science expert how did you forget about freaking anatomy

 **Jansen:** I’m sorry! I was busy doing stuff!

 **Arjie:** by stuff he means nathan

Nathan’s face heated up at that one, quickly covering it with a hand and continues typing one-handed, getting more exasperated with each text sent. Why is no one taking this seriously?!

 **Nathan:** wtf no!

 **Nathan:** guys i’m serious the deadline’s tomorrow!!!

 **Vitus:** i did it

 **Jansen:** You did?

 **Kyle:** u did???

 **Nathan:** OH MY GOD VITUS YOU’RE OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR

 **Rev:**   but you just told me you finished art not anatomy vitus

 **Nathan:** wait what

 **Vitus:** yea duh isn’t that what we’re talking about?

 **Niel:** shit we ded

 **Arjie:** pwned

 **Jansen:** Don’t worry, guys. We still have time, but we gotta’ be quick. Just make sure everyone does their jobs. Let’s meet up @ Svetlana’s. Now stop texting before we get detention.

Nathan was so glad Jansen cut the conversation short, because he would’ve exploded from sheer frustration if they had to go on any longer. He’s going to scream at his idiot friends for being ignorant dicks later when they meet up.

“…How about you, Nathan?”

His heart beat so hard it was a miracle he didn’t have a heart attack.

Nathan shoves his phone as deep as possible in his desk, both hands clenched as he slams them down on the wooden material. He stares at Mr. Flinton like a deer in headlights, the man smirking at him.

 _He knows_.

“Uh…What?” He squeaks, wincing at how meek he sounded. The smirk on his teacher’s face only widened at his response, and Nathan could only think about his imminent death by ‘that’s what she said’ jokes as the man stood up straight, starting to walk towards his desk.

“I asked you a question, which should be easy if you were paying attention. Tell me, who was the Green Knight in ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’?”

He silently cheers at the question, thanking his lucky stars he’s brushed up on today’s materials a few days before. He smiles confidently, almost matching Mr. Flinton’s smirk as the teacher stared down at him expectantly.

“The Green Knight was actually Bertilak de Hautdesert, the lord of a castle Sir Gawain spent the night in on his way to the Green Chapel. It was an illusion made by the sorceress Morgan le Fay, who wanted to test King Arthur’s knights and scare Guinevere shitless.”

For a moment, Mr. Flinton looks stunned that he managed to answer, in detail even. But the look didn’t last for long, morphing into a fleeting smile. _You got lucky, Nathan_ , was what the brunette caught from his teacher’s stare, breathing out a sigh of relief when the blond man nods in satisfaction.

“Still, that doesn’t excuse you from whatever you were doing under your desk. Hand it over.”

And he was back into panic mode, eyes widening comically at Mr. Flinton’s outstretched hand. Fuck, fuck, _fuck_. What should he do? He can’t just give his phone, how was he supposed to tier for events today? More importantly, some of his notes are there!

“Hand what over?” He tries to play dumb, only to gain an unimpressed look from his teacher. “Nathan, hand it over or I’ll shove a stick up your ass for being so difficult. Which actually means, detention.”

Detention was the last thing he wanted to happen on the day where he’s supposed to work on his life-changing group project. His hand rifles through his desk, desperately trying to find something else he could give other than gum packets and balled-up papers. His hand finally grabs on to a book (the cover was more glossy than his usual notebook, but he doesn’t care), and he pulls it out without a second thought of what it may be, dumping it into his teacher’s awaiting hands…

Only to see that it was the comic book with the promo code for a Love Live! card.

He bites back a scream as he tries to reach for it again, but Mr. Flinton was faster, holding it out of reach before the teacher saunters back to the front of the class, whimpering in defeat and slams his head on his desk for his stupidity.

There goes his six dollars and his _waifu_.  
  


* * *

  
The scent of pastries and jasmine in Svetlana’s doesn’t soothe his aching soul like it usually does.

Nathan didn’t have to look to know that his friends were the noisy bunch screaming about dicks at the corner of the parlor. If they weren’t regulars, they would’ve been kicked out already for disturbing the other customers. He walks over sluggishly with his caramel vanilla frappe and blueberry cheesecake, the table quieting down when they see just how sullen he looks. Nathan says nothing as he throws himself down on the seat besides Jansen, placing his plate and cup haphazardly. Almost immediately, his boyfriend pulls him into a half-embrace, just in time as Nathan starts to sob pathetically, face buried in his sweater.

“Dude, what the hell happened to you?” Francis asked, raising an eyebrow at his childish behavior. Nathan lifted his head enough to stop sobbing, a bit comforted by Jansen’s hand carding through his hair. “Mr. Flinton is a fucking jerk.” He whines, voice muffled.

Vitus, seated across from Francis rolled his eyes, taking a bite out of Nathan’s cheesecake, the glutton. “Yeah, well. What else is new? Seriously though, what happened? Did he confiscate your phone?”

“Worse,” Nathan’s heart almost breaks again at the memory, clutching at Jansen tighter as he pouts. “He took my _Dengeki-G_ and the promo code.” Vitus winced in sympathy, being a fellow Love Live! player. The pink-haired teen placed a hand over his own heart, nodding solemnly. “We will miss you, Nozomi Tojo.”

“Couldn’t you just _ask_ for the code after class?” Arjie questions, busy grappling for the menu with Niel, who was trying to read it as the book was tugged back and forth.

“I did. But Mr. Flinton just ignored me and left.” He sniffs, feeling much better with all the attention he’s getting from Jansen, lifting his head and muttering ‘thanks’, though he didn’t brush his boyfriend’s shoulder off of him. Jansen just smiled, giving him one last pat on the head before he clears his throat.

“Now that we’re all here, we can finally discuss the group project which is due…” Jansen trails off, taking a quick look at his watch. “In 16 hours. We have less than a day to work on it, so we shouldn’t be slacking off. You can all read the details there, now we just have to divide what everyone should be doi—“

“Hey, Mr. Flinton just got his ass kicked!” Jansen frowns at the interruption, staring at Kyle who was busy scrolling through his phone, laughing at whatever it was that he saw. Niel, one of the most easily distracted of everyone quickly leans in to see, joining in on the laughter as the two pointed at something together. Nathan usually wasn’t one to care about that, but seeing that he just had beef with the man, he pulls out his phone and opens the school page too, eager to see the English Lit teacher get exactly what he deserves for getting between a guy and his _waifu_.

Obviously, Jansen was disappointed at his boyfriend’s attention span.

“Nathan, I thought you were the one who was panicking about the project in the first place.” He reminds, though it falls onto deaf ears, the aforementioned teen sounding pretty satisfied as he watches a video on loop. “Hah! Can’t believe he lost to Mr. Demetrius.” Nathan mumbles, typing a comment.

“Guys, come on. We should really focus—“

It didn’t take long for the rest of the group to have their phones out as well, assignment forgotten in favor of watching a teacher get beaten by another teacher (why, Jansen would have to ask Nathan later). Jansen sighs, _this_ close to ditching them and bribe another group to let him join them instead.

But then again, he couldn’t exactly do that. Curse him and his loyalty.

His gaze flitted towards Rev who looks just as irritated as he was, eye twitching from Niel and Kyle’s obnoxious laughing. Their eyes met, and Jansen threw a pleading look at the unofficial ‘mom’ of the group, silently begging him to make them stop. Rev seems to get the message, throwing him a smile that promises a job well done, turning towards the others.

“If you guys don’t shut up, you’re not even going to be nominated for Son of The Year.”

Son of The Year was an award that they took very seriously, so it’s no surprise when everyone falls quiet immediately.

Rev takes a moment to properly stare everyone down and shame them with that ‘Disappointed Mom’ look, before nodding at Jansen to continue, taking a sip from his milkshake.

“I’m sure if I talk for too long, it wouldn’t be so effective so let me get straight to the point.” Jansen starts all over, pulling out a stack of stapled papers from his bag, flipping through them as he explains. “Mr. Novell is a very meticulous person, so he would accept nothing less than perfect. He can be easily…Dissuaded though, if we decide to do a topic he absolutely loves, like dicks for example. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Arjie perks up, standing straighter in his seat. “We’re going to do a presentation on dicks?”

“Well yeah, but not _just_ about dicks. We’re going to do a presentation about human reproduction, which is easily one of the easiest compared to digestion if we have to make a 3D model of it. Agreed?” Everyone nods excitedly, because it was also _their_ favorite subject to joke about on a daily basis. “Great! Now, let me just split everyone’s tasks and we can get to work quickly.” Jansen continues, taking apart some of the papers.

“Rev and I will work on the material. The research, the explaining, et cetera…You know, the boring part. That okay with you, mum?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Nathan and Vitus, you two work on the PowerPoint. Make sure you two follow the guidelines. And please, _don’t_ throw in any weird memes.”

“Got it!” The two replied in unison. The look they both shared was suspicious, but Jansen decides to ignore that for now and hand over the paper with said guidelines.

“Niel and Kyle, you two get the supplies for the 3D model.” Everyone else stares at him like he’s gone crazy, but the two teens were looking at him as if he gave them early Christmas presents, all beaming smiles and sparkling eyes. He almost feels bad for lying to them. “Are you serious?” Niel sounds astonished, and the two whooped when Jansen nods. “You two better start now before the shops get crowded. So, take my car. I know Kyle has his driving license already.” He tosses his keys to Kyle, who looks ready to burst out screaming.

“Jansen, are y—“ He cuts Francis off with a ‘Don’t worry I got this’ look, Kyle and Niel standing up and fussing about with each other, as giddy as two children given the freedom to skip curfew for a night.

“I’ll text you a list of the supplies after this. Be safe, you two. And don’t wreck my car.” It took months of doing the dishes and some serious studying to get his parents to buy it, he’s going to flip his shit if anything happens to it.

“Don’t worry, I promise to return it in one piece!” Kyle claims excitedly, slinging an arm around Niel, wide grins on their faces. He’s starting to feel guilty seeing them so happy over a trivial matter. “’Cmon, Niel, we shouldn’t be wasting time! We’ve got an important mission to do!” They both started to run towards the exit, Niel shouting an eager ‘Supply run!’ before they dashed out of the door.

The table falls silent for a few beats, before Francis asks the question that’s on everyone’s mind.

“Jansen, do you really trust _them_? Five bucks I say they’re going to return with Krispy Kreme and Burger King instead of what we need.”

Jansen shrugs, fishing out his phone to text Niel the shopping list like he promised. “I don’t.”

“Then what—“

“Which is why I’m sending you two to get the actual supplies.” He hands Francis and Arjie the last paper. “I didn’t want them to feel useless, but I don’t want them getting in our hair, so I had a plan.”

Francis’ eyebrows furrowed as he read the list, Arjie already packing up his stuff besides him. “But…We can’t drive.”

“I can.” Arjie replies coolly, earning a look of surprise from Francis. “You never told me! Do you even have a driving license?”

“Yeah, I just forged one a few weeks ago.”

“Wait, what?!”

“Yo, Vitus. Can we borrow your car?” Arjie stands up, ignoring the bespectacled teen’s protests besides him.

“Sure, help yourself.” Vitus tossed his keys to Arjie, but completely missed and knocks over an empty glass on their table instead. “Whoops.”

Arjie gives him an unimpressed look, but picks up the keys anyways and proceeds to drag an unwilling Francis with him, the raven tugging at his sleeve and going on and on about him driving them to their deathbeds.

“Let’s go! We need to hurry before the arts and crafts shop close.”

“But what if we get caught for fraud? I don’t want my pristine student records broken just because I was riding with an illegal driver! I swear to God, if you destroy my chances of getting into uni—“

And his voice starts to fade as they went out of the café, leaving only four people left to deal with the brunt of the work. Jansen just hopes this would go well, and they could finish on time (also, he hopes his car would be okay).

The four of them talked a bit about their game plan, before finishing their orders and playing a round of rock-papers-scissors to determine who pays for everything. Nathan, the poor rhythm game enthusiast who’s been having the worst day ever was the unlucky boy that had to sacrifice his credit card. Thankfully, Jansen, _bless his soul_ , took pity on him and paid for some of it. If they were alone, he would’ve kissed the life out of his boyfriend.

They all packed up, and headed straight towards the public library with only 15 hours left to spare, and walk out with a complete project.

“So, why did Mr. Demetrius punch Mr. Flinton again?”  



	2. Absolute Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I'd split this story into two parts? I'm sorry, I lied. I had a serious case of writer's block. I promise it's going to end in the third chapter, though! There's not much left to the story, so please bear with me a little! 
> 
> The Eugene/Leroy tag comes into play in this chapter, so enjoy some fanservice. 
> 
> Happy reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, too!

Without the resident troublemakers in the vicinity, it was fairly easy to concentrate on their work.

Jansen writes the whole material while Rev fetches books for references, correcting him at times but otherwise he goes back and forth between their table and the bookshelves. Nathan and Vitus joke around a lot and gets a few stern smacks on the heads from Rev, but otherwise they did an amazing job on the PowerPoint, the two being some of the best editors in their group.

Rev was convinced that everything was going to be okay, they can finish without a hitch, and all of them will graduate with flying colors.

But knowing fate, it never lets procrastinators go that easily.

It was at his fifth book run that he heard moaning from the other side of the bookshelf.

Any normal person would’ve ran and pretended they heard nothing, but none of them were normal and they _lived_ to shame other people, either in public forums or their group chat as an inside joke.

Rev quickly stacks his books before he could miss out on the action, balancing them precariously on his arm and whipped out his phone, silently stalking to the far end of the bookshelf. He peers around the corner with the camera app opened. The brunette was fully prepared to record his classmates snogging and share it in the official school forums, but oh boy, was Rev surprised when he sees who the resident lovebirds are.

He was met with wide shoulders that could only belong to Mr. Demetrius, legs wrapped around the broad man’s waist. Rev couldn’t see the man he was making out with, other than a tuft of black hair that could belong to anyone. He guessed it was Mr. Novell, seeing as the two men are dating, and the resounding moan coming from the unknown man confirmed his suspicions.

 _Oh, Holy Moss, he’s going to be rich_.

He honestly didn’t expect to see the pair, in a public spot of all places. Sure, Mr. Novell was known to be kinky, but Mr. Demetrius? The man was a walking statue! The science teacher must be blowing him _good_ to get him to agree to this.

Too busy was he trying to get the perfect angle without running the risk of getting caught, Rev didn’t notice how the books he’s carrying were starting to slip out of his grip, landing on the ground noisily and distracting the lovebirds.

He managed to duck away just in time before Mr. Novell could see him, the kissing sounds stopping abruptly, replaced with quiet murmurs between the two (mostly from Mr. Demetrius). His heart was beating frantically in his chest when he heard footsteps coming closer to his spot, the senior student trying to inch away as far as possible.

The footsteps stopped in its tracks, and Rev held his breath as he strained to hear the couple talk. There was a small slit where he could peek through, his curious nature taking over as he tries to see what his teachers were doing.

“Come on, hyung. Let them be. I’m sure they wouldn’t come back after knowing what they just saw,” Mr. Novell drawls, obviously undisturbed by the distraction, the man already eager to resume as he wraps his arms around Mr. Demetrius’ neck, attempting to pull him back into a kiss. The taller man was having none of it, though, pulling away before their lips managed to connect once more, eyebrows pulled taut in worry.

“Leroy, no. Can’t we just go home? What if someone else wanders over again?”

The science teacher pouts, quickly pressing himself against the other man before he could move away, hands running down Mr. Demetrius’ body, his trademark, provocative smirk on his face. “They _won’t_. I promise you. Now, less talking, more kissing.”

Rev looks away right when Mr. Novell’s hand slip inside his lover’s pants, and just like that, they were back at it again, the brunette letting out a sigh of relief, glad that he wasn’t caught. 

He speeds back towards the table where the rest of the gang was at with a smile on his face, book run completely forgotten (there’s _no way_ he’s coming back for the books) as he checks his phone to make sure the recording was still there. There it is, good. His money maker was still intact.

Oh, wait until the boys hear about this.  
  


* * *

  
When he returns with a wide grin that translates easily to him discovering something juicy, everyone immediately rose from their chairs and stopped whatever they were doing to crowd towards him, eager to hear the gossip.

“What happened? You can’t find the book?”

“No, I—“

“Did you just win a lottery?”

“Or did you just witness live action tentacle porn?”

“Vitus, what the fuck, that’s not even possible!” Nathan screeches, disgusted. The teen in question shrugs, raising his hands. “What? Anything can happen! This is Greenville we’re talking about!”

Rev shakes his head, taking in a deep breath and closed his eyes, before facing his ‘children’ again, staring at their expectant and excited faces.

“I can’t believe I just saw Mr. Demetrius and Mr. Novell making out in the encyclopedia section.”

Jansen groans, disappointed as he slumps back in his seat and returns to his notes. Nathan and Vitus were screaming silently as they shook each other with matching grins on their faces, looking like rabid fanboys whose ship just went canon. In this case, it probably did.

“You’re fucking kidding! No way!” Nathan whispers harshly, eyes wide. He looks like he’s about to combust any moment

“Yes way.” Rev replies with a smug smirk, waving his phone around. “I got evidence right here.”

The two best friends gasped.

“Oh my god, this is _way_ better than live action tentacle porn.”

“Will you stop with the tentacle thing, you sick bastard!” Nathan shoves Vitus roughly, the pink-haired male sticking his tongue out as he shoves back. The two looked like they were ready to fight, so Rev quickly stands between them, already sending the recording to both of them. They were his friends, he’d let them have it for free.

“Shut up, you kids. I just sent it to you. You better be grateful because I intend to sell this to the student body. Moss God knows just how much the whole school ships them. I’ll finally have enough to buy some merch.”

The duo broke off into more hysterical whisper-screams, eagerly pulling out their phones and completely forgetting about their assignments, again.

He left the two giggling boys and took his seat besides Jansen, who was already filling out another page. The guy works quick, and Rev feels a little bit guilty for distracting their editing team. But, well…Fanservice is very rare in the school, he had to take advantage of the situation while it was present.

“Do you want the video, too?” He asks jokingly, knowing very well that the bespectacled teen would wrinkle up his nose and shake his head, eyes glued to the thick book besides his notes, his right hand still writing diligently.

“Ugh, no thank you. I’d rather not see Mr. Novell’s dick before we meet him tomorrow.” Jansen replies, his hand pausing when he finally noticed that Rev came back without a new stack of books, the teen raising an eyebrow. “Did you not find anything, mum?”

Oh, right. The books that he dropped in the teachers’ make-out spot.

“Nope, most of it had the same content as the books we have now.” He lies, because Jansen does _not_ need to know about his near run-in with the lovebirds. Thankfully, he bought it and doesn’t ask any more questions, the pair easily returning to their assigned works once more, lapsing into silence.

That is, until Nathan and Vitus started whisper-screaming again.

Jansen sighs in exasperation, looking torn between flicking his boyfriend’s forehead for his inability to stay focused or hug him to make him stop. “Can you two _please_ get back to work? I swear I’m going to hit you two if you haven’t finished.”

The two doesn’t look bothered as they eased in their seats, _finally_ , instead having matching smiles on their faces. “But we’re already done! It was totally easy. Am I right, Nathan?” Vitus quips, the teen in question nodding as he scrolled through his laptop’s files. The feeling didn’t last for long, as Nathan starts to look more worried as time passes.

 “Vitus, do you have the file? Because I don’t.” The way Vitus’ face also pales is enough cause for concern, the pink-haired teen quickly checking his laptop. His jaw drops, looking aghast when he faces Nathan.

“Uh…I don’t. Did we forget to save?”

“Oh my god, don’t tell me we have to start over again.”

“I thought _you_ were supposed to save it!”

“No, it was you! We agreed to have it in yours!”

Jansen slams his head on the table.

 _This does not bode well for them_.  


* * *

  
“Niel, are you sure about this? Don’t you think we should get the supplies first?”

The raven-haired male in the passenger seat scoffs, busy pillaging for snacks from the plastic bags stacked in his lap, all containing different foods from various fast food chains.

“Nonsense!” Niel retorts, taking a sip from his Coke, eyes following the directions displayed on his phone, occasionally conveying it to Kyle as the other teen drives. “We can never have too much fries and burgers. We’ll be working until night, so we’ll need all the energy we can get!”

Kyle doesn’t look so convinced at first, but oh well. If anything happens, he can always blame it on Niel.

Kyle smiles, nodding his head as he swipes at one of Niel’s donuts, munching on it with one hand still on the steering wheel.

“Alright, where to next?”

“Subway, obviously! Come on, this is our very important supply run!”  


* * *

  
Jansen almost had had enough when he hears snickering again.

When he glances over to Nathan and Vitus’ table, Nathan had a hand over his mouth to cover up his laughter, while Vitus was grinning like a maniac. He has no idea what the two were doing, but he knows it’s going to be anything other than the project.

With a heavy sigh, Jansen rose from his seat and stalked over to the two giggling teens, smacking the two on their heads when he finally saw their laptop screens, eliciting cries of “Ow!” and “Fuck!” from the pair.

“Can you please tell me, just _why are you two Skype-ing each other_?”

They had mirroring video footage of each other on both screens, currently on a call and they couldn’t seem to stop laughing at their own ridiculousness, prompting the unanimously voted leader of the group to press the ‘end’ button and glare at Nathan and Vitus until they started to calm down from their hysteria.

“Can’t you guys be serious for once? Nathan, you were the one that harassed us to do this and now you’re joking around?”

“Relax, we’ve actually finished it this time!” The teen in question chirps, wiping away the tears at the corners of his eyes. He closed his Skype, sharing one last look with Vitus before he starts browsing through his files again.

Jansen was not assured. A few hours ago, he said they were done and forgot to save. If it happens again, he _swears—_

“…Vitus, I think I forgot to save again.”

“You _what_.”

Jansen sends them to do the PowerPoint on separate tables after that to avoid any more mishaps, and nags at Nathan to save every single change they make because if this happens again, he’s going to kick them out personally.

He slinks back to his seat and he’s sighed for more times than he could count, running a hand over his face tiredly. Rev pats his back as a comforting gesture, offering an optimistic smile. As the appointed ‘mother’, it’s his job to keep morale high.

Jansen couldn’t help but wonder what’s taking Arjie and Francis so long just to get supplies, though. He knows Kyle and Niel would return either with nothing or with a heap of food, the former pair being his only beacon of hope left in this godforsaken group.

Gods, he envies them for not having to deal with this bullshit.  
  


* * *

 

  
Francis and Arjie stared each other down, lips pressed into a tight line. The air was filled with tension, their silence unnerving, before it was broken by a synchronized whisper.

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

Arjie’s hand formed a scissor. Francis went with paper.

“Yes!” Arjie cheered quietly, and Francis immediately slumped to the ground with a defeated cry. The former had a victorious grin on his face, crouching so he could pull his friend up on wobbly legs.

“Come on, we had a deal,” he urged. “Loser has to ask the staff for anything that resembles coarse hair.” He pushed Francis forward, the raven-haired teen refusing to budge from his spot as he clung onto Arjie’s arm, whimpering.

“I _know_ ,” he moans, eyes darting nervously towards the employee not far from where they’re standing. His stomach churns at the simple thought of what he’s about to do. “But I can’t just walk up to him and ask him for something hair-like for a dick paper mache! Plus, he looks scary!”

Arjie rolls his eyes. “You’re just seeing things. He’s got that boy next door vibe! Who knows, maybe he’s single, too,” he says in an attempt to encourage Francis, shoving the other off of him. He earns a squeak of protest. “Besides, I already drove us here. It’s only fair that you get to ask.”

Francis swallows a lump in his throat, heart threatening to jump out of his ribcage. He stares at the staff member once more, observing his whole appearance. What Arjie said was kind of true. The guy looked old enough to be a sophomore in university, slightly intimidating with his towering height and the silver piercings on his ear. Despite those features, his overall appearance seems boyish and dare Francis say, soft. His jet black hair was styled into a bowl cut, bangs stopping right above his doe eyes. His lips were pulled into a warm smile as he hums a random tune to himself, happily stuffing pens and pencils in the shelves. He seems laid back, wearing a simple white tee and ripped jeans under the mandatory blue apron the staff wears.

He looks friendly, but Francis doesn’t want his first impression of him to be _the weird guy that wanted to make a dick paper mache_.

“Arjie, I’m not sure I can do this.” He whispers urgently, turning around so they could exit the store. They should’ve asked Vitus to do this! Guy practically has no shame, he’d pull this off easily. Francis yelps when he feels a firm hand push him back, his dark, obsidian orbs meeting Arjie’s determined gaze.

“Hey, you can’t just walk out like that, we had a deal! And everyone else is busy, who’s going to buy the supplies if not us?”

“There’s Kyle and Niel, we could go help the others instead!”

“ _You_ were the one who said they’re unreliable! Come on, you just have to _ask_!”

“No, I’m not doing it!”

The two continued to wrestle in front of the entrance, neither wanting to give up and hissing at each other. If they weren’t so engaged in their heated argument, they would’ve noticed the figure walking up to them while carrying a basket, the pair freezing and snapping their heads towards the source of the voice when they heard someone clear his throat.

“Um…Is there anything I can help you with?”

 _Shit_ , it was the tall employee from before.

For a few moments, the atmosphere was filled with awkward silence as the three only stared at each other. Francis and Arjie had this dumbfounded look as they stared at the man (teen, maybe? They were unsure), who was looking at them with his eyebrows knit in worry.

Arjie snapped out of his trance first as he once again pushed Francis towards the staff member, before making a mad dash out of the store and back towards the parking lot, leaving behind a bewildered Francis who shouts at his sudden escape attempt, clicking his tongue when he can no longer see the brunette’s retreating figure.

 _Sly bastard_.

It sinks in that now he has no choice but to face the man he’s been trying his best to avoid talking to, turning his head to face the confused employee, looking like he wants to say something but decides not to because he doesn’t want to be rude.

“So…”

Francis gulps, feeling his face heat up and he holds up the list from before, bracing himself for the humiliation he’s going to get after this for his odd request as he managed an awkward smile. The things he does for school, seriously.

Here goes nothing.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any coarse hair now, do you?”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and constructive criticism is highly appreciated!


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